PSA's Varin sees European rivals cutting capacity, paper reports
 |
Philippe Varin says PSA is in ''advanced negotiations'' to create 600 alternative jobs at the Aulnay plant, which is earmarked for closure. |
Reprints
Print
Respond
PARIS (Reuters) -- PSA/Peugeot-Citroen CEO Philippe Varin said he "would not be surprised" to see other automakers cut European capacity in the wake of his decision to close a plant near Paris, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Tuesday.
"The problem of overcapacity doesn't just concern us," he was quoted as saying. "I wouldn't be surprised to see others taking this type of decision."
Varin also told the daily that the Paris-based automaker was in advanced talks on the creation of 600 jobs at Aulnay, the site of the assembly plant earmarked for closure in an announcement last week.
PSA unveiled plans on July 12 to shutter the factory and cut 8,000 jobs across its French sites to stem mounting auto-division losses compounded by Europe's market slump. The plans have drawn angry reaction from unions and France's new Socialist government.
Half of the 3,000-strong workforce at Aulnay, which builds the Citroen C3 subcompact, is to be transferred to PSA's other Paris plant in Poissy, west of the capital, which builds the Peugeot 208 subcompact, after the factory closure in 2014.
PSA also said it aims to help generate new jobs at Aulnay by encouraging development of other industries and companies on the site.
"We are going to help create 1,500 jobs, and we're in advanced negotiations for 600 of those," Varin was quoted as saying, without giving further details.
Sales of PSA vehicles in European Union and EFTA countries fell 13.7 percent to 827,163 in the first six months, according to data from the Brussels-based motoring organization ACEA, published on Tuesday. The automaker's market share dropped from 13 to 12 percent, ACEA added.
Automotive News Europe contributed to this report
Contact Automotive News
